Tengai Makyou Zero is one of those weird, charming SNES RPGs that never made it outside Japan—which is a shame, because it's got this offbeat humor and a world that feels alive in ways most 16-bit games don't. You start off as this kid who gets dragged into an adventure involving floating islands, samurai, and a talking dog (because of course there's a talking dog).

The combat's turn-based but with this cool positional system where you're constantly shuffling your party around mid-battle—took me a few fights to realize standing in front actually matters when the enemy lunges. And the sprite work? Gorgeous. There's this one town built into a giant tree that made me just stop and stare for a solid minute.

It's got that classic '90s RPG vibe where you'll spend half your time talking to every NPC just to see what bizarre thing they'll say next. The whole thing feels like stumbling into some lost Studio Ghibli side project. If you're into quirky retro JRPGs, this one's hiding some real magic.